After Eid

It’s been quite a while since my last posting (about my school work!)(which was very interesting, naturally). The Hari Raya break was fabulous, watched Anniyan on Central, packed in the calories with all the cakes and brownies and cakes (and probably burnt it all by walking to my room from the hall). Before and after that, I went out and saw, heard, smelled and ate things, but didn’t get to write them all down.

That’s what happens when you don’t write for a while: you get all hot and confused on what to write, which fascinating nugget of your thus-far dull-as-a-duck life you want to shout about. Will it be my trip to Geylang during Ramadan where I saw a lot of children’s underwear? Or my transit through Toys ‘r Us where a dead Barney lay, cold and still? Or will it be going to my brother’s new flat at Cantonment near where a fat, white rabbit was caged? Or going to the Malaysian railway coffeeshop where I ate a thosai from the crevices of a kitchen from hell? Or the karaoke concert at Bukit Merah with singers who showed that true showmanship was not about having Botox jobs or prosthetic mammaries, but was about believing in yourself, nevermind that you might be old, fat, or just really can’t sing?

I’ve seen these karaoke gatherings before, and man, the audience is a sizable number. Dialect songs are sung by the Average Ah Kow and Ah Ling set to deafening music that some folks even get up and dance to. Who says we in Singapore don’t know how to have a good time? I may not, since I eat cakes and brownies indoors, but these fellas sure do.

Talking about performing outdoors, I spotted 2 dudes dressed in some hippie/gypsy kind of outfits performing at Boon Lay MRT a month back. Normal buskers to the naked eye, but Kings of Beats to the discerning ear. Not that I have a supremely discerning ear lah, but I thought it sounded cool. These guys were doing a mini Badmarsh and Shree, and attracting an audience quite large for a busker act. I wonder whether they’re still there; it’s quite an interesting place, Boon Lay MRT. Here you’ll see smelly pigeons, illegal curry puff sellers, banana sellers, VCD sellers getting chased by the police and SDP comrades selling their newspaper. Wonderful.

More recently, I went to take a look at my brother’s new flat at Cantonment, a 4-room flat set in a quiet area. Before that though I went to the nearby railway station for a small breakfast. As the news of some Clean and Hygiene Week’s official opening was being announced by Prema on Oli 96.8, the thosai stall owner dug a cup of semi-liquid thosai dough with his dough-splattered hand and splashed it onto the pan that already had 2 pratas frying. A peak into what I thought was the toilet, revealed what was actually the kitchen that had unwashed plates, raw potatoes and dustbins. A man came out from there, carrying a piping hot container of chicken masala. I didn’t want to think about the process that produced the chicken masala. I ate my thosai that (of course) tasted a bit like prata. Moving on to the flat.

It was a good place. Quiet, serene and tile-less, the flat was good for a couple, their 2 small kids and maybe one set of parents. Outside the flat, there was a caged rabbit owned by unidentified neighbours. After showing the family around, my brother bade us farewell to attend to work in the CBD. No need for a lift, he said to my dad. The CBD is walking distance from here. Cantonment is a cool place for a yuppie bent on living near a caged rabbit.

I’ve put up all the photos, so feel free to take a peak at everything I’ve taken a peak at. For the sound links to the Badmarsh and Shree Buskers and Bukit Merah Crooners, check back in a few days' time; Internet Archive takes a few days to accept the uploads. Will be back with a review of Vikram's Maja.